How We Found the Doctor
by Essie Rose
Summary: Laura Smith's life isn't going well, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for her family who seem to be perfect. Tom Tyler is an ordinary bloke, lost with a blue box. When the two meet they realize exactly what they need to turn things around, an adventure and a Doctor.
1. A woman called Laura meets a man called

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Chapter One: A woman called Laura meets a man called Tom

Laura Smith never succeeded at anything on the first try. She failed her A-levels her first try. She failed her first year at university and her first driving exam. In fact anything that required any level of physical skill she's failed numerous times. No matter how hard she tried Laura was never good at anything other than being painfully ordinary.

This fact wouldn't have bothered her so much if it weren't for her parents and older brothers, who all seemed to do everything right. They all worked for the Unified Intelligence Taskforce or UNIT a government agency that dealt with top secret threats to the nation. Laura didn't know much about it, because no one in her family would tell her. It was frustrating at family dinners when they began talking about something in code so that she wouldn't understand the conversation.

"It's nothing for you to worry about dear," her mother Martha would say. However Laura felt differently. Whatever it was her family did at UNIT it was important and Laura desperately wanted to be a part of it. Currently she worked in a toy shop, dealing with irate parents; screaming children and a boss who didn't seem capable of doing any work what so ever.

"You can handle can't you, love" Mr. Timbers would always say before slamming the office door in Laura's face. But Laura really couldn't complain. His lack of paying attention to anything she did was possibly the only reason she'd kept this job as long as she had. Since uni Laura had been sacked from seven jobs. Her tendency to ruin everything followed her into her love life as well.

While her brothers had families Laura, at 27 years of age, had yet to have a single long-term romantic relationship. As much as she wanted a boyfriend, possibly a husband, she couldn't figure out exactly how to go about getting one.

"I for one don't care you don't have a boyfriend," her father Michael would say. "You deserve the best, dear and so far none of the losers you've gone out with in the past fit the bill." Laura loved that her father only wanted the best for her, but considering she didn't have the best job, the best flat or the best car, Laura doubted she'd get the best boyfriend.

"The man of your dreams will come sooner than you think, dearest," Martha said one evening when Laura was looking rather low. "Just wait; he'll come right out of the blue."

Laura's parents saw how hard she worked, but life didn't seem to be going her way. They wanted to tell her that things would change, but neither really believed that. There was a good chance that life for their youngest would never change, but as long as she wasn't planning to end it all in the Thames, they figured she'd be fine.

No, Laura wasn't planning to off herself, but she was planning to change things around. She enrolled in a yoga class and had gone to at least 4 or 5 sessions. She'd manage to save 900 pounds for a new car, well new to her. Also she joined an online dating site and so far the men who chatted her didn't seem too pervy. Things for Laura were going to change and she was going to make sure of it. However one night after a particularly boring date with a pest control worker Laura's plans hit a snag.

"What do you mean you've been burglarized," Michael shouted into the mobile after Laura discovered her flat had been ransacked.

"I mean someone's broken into my flat, Dad," Laura said sobbing and blindly roaming through her flat. "My place has been completely destroyed. My T.V. and radio are gone. All my clothes are gone, jewelry."

"Jewelry? But that's all knock-offs," Michael replied.

"Dad," Laura screamed offended.

"All right, calm down. Don't touch anything. Ring the police and I'll be there soon," Michael said and hung up the phone.

Still upset Laura went back outside. She lived on the top floor of a duplex and the old woman that occupied the botTom was deaf so she wouldn't be any help in figuring out when the robbery happened. It really didn't matter anyway. Her stuff was relatively crap. But it was her crap and Laura worked hard to get it. She sat on the stoop after she rang the police and waited. She tried not to think about getting robbed because every time she did a new set of tears would begin to flow.

The street was quiet and the air was cooler than usual for a summer night. Resting her head against the rail of the steps, Laura didn't realize she fell asleep, until a strange noise woke her up. At first she thought it was a siren, but it didn't sound like any siren she'd heard before. It was coming from around the corner in an ally a few duplexes down. Laura stood up and strained her neck to see if she could see what was making the sound, but she couldn't.

What if it's the burglars, she thought. Laura didn't want her already terrible night to end with her murder. As she wrestled in her mind whether to go or not, the noise stopped. The street became quiet again. It must have been a car radio, Laura thought as she sat back down. Suddenly a tall thin man came running from around the corner where the sound had come from. He was running very quickly and just as he was about to pass Laura he managed to turn his head and say, "Hello," in a gleeful tone.

"Hello," Laura called out. The man ran down the block and around the other corner. Strange, Laura thought. She looked at her mobile for the time. Ten minutes to 11 p.m. Laura was exhausted and as much as she wanted to find out who could have stolen from her, she hoped the investigation of her flat wouldn't take too long.

Then Laura heard something coming from up the road. It was the man again, and he was still running. Is he being chanced, Laura wondered. As he approached her this time the man stopped right in front of her. Laura gave him a nervous look as he tried to catch his breath. He looked harmless enough, messing blond hair, big brown eyes, vintage looking t-shirt, jeans and trainers. He looked to be about Laura's age, possibly a bit younger. When he finally composed himself he flashed Laura a huge toothy smile.

"Good evening," he said but his voice cracked. He slapped a hand over mouth and turned red. Laura smiled back.

"Good evening," she replied and embarrassingly enough in her flirtatious voice. The man recomposed himself and cleared his throat.

"Hi, my name is Tom," he said.

"Hi Tom , I'm Laura," she replied and stuck out her hand for handshake. Tom started to speak but stopped after examining Laura's gesture.

"What's that," Tom asked pointing at her hand. Laura grimaced.

"My hand," she replied feeling embarrassed that she was still holding it out.

"Yes, but what are you doing with it," Tom questioned curiously.

"You're joking," Laura said with a laugh, but Tom 's furrowed brow indicated he was serious.

"I'm, I'm trying to give you a handshake," she said feeling silly for having to explain. Tom looked at her thoughtfully. Then suddenly he smiled a giddy smile.

"Oh of course," he shouted. "A handshake; I've heard of handshakes." He was beaming.

"I'm sorry you've," before Laura could finish her statement, Tom used both hands to grab Laura's thumb and shake it as gingerly has he could. He made a very serious face as he did so, then he carefully placed Laura's hand, back at her side. Beaming he looked up at her.

"How did I do," he asked excitedly. Laura didn't know what was going on and figured this man was obviously mental. She needed to get away quickly.

"Brill," she said smiling, as she slowly stepped up on the stairs. She made sure to keep her eyes on him. "Well I must be going, nice meeting you Tom ," she said and as her foot hit the top of the stairs she spun around ready to run inside.

"Thank you," she could hear Tom said proudly. "Oh wait," He shouted. His raised voice scared Laura. She jumped.

"What do you want," she shouted back, which made Tom jump. "I don't have any money okay, and I've just been robbed so."

"What," Tom blurted. Once again he furrowed his brow in confusion. "I don't want your money," he said offended. "I just wanted to ask you a question." Laura sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry," she said remorsefully. "It hasn't been the best night. Honestly I'm really sorry." Tom's big smile returned.

"Oh it's all right," he exclaimed. "We've all had bad nights." Then he giggled. Laura had never heard an adult man giggle before, but she was sure that's what he did. She smiled shyly and walked back down the steps. She stopped just short of the third step from the bottom. She realized she was eye level with Tom. Tom was at least 6 feet 4 inches, and would tower over her 5 feet 4 inch frame if she stood next to him. Tom, giggling, didn't seem to notice how much closer Laura was him until he opened his eyes and she was looking at him. He stared back. His eyes became intense, and Laura was starting to feel uncomfortable again.

"You said you wanted to ask me a question," she said. Tom kept staring. "Tom ," Laura shouted.

"Yes," he replied quickly. "Yes my question. How can I put this?" Tom seemed to be searching for the words, alternating between a smile and pensive look. "Yes, well here it goes, have you seen the Doctor?" he asked. Laura stared back him blankly.

"The Doctor," she repeated.

"Yes the Doctor," he answered.

"What Doctor," she asked. Tom furrowed his brow again, which Laura was beginning to find rather adorable.

"The Doctor," he said, emphasizing the "the".

"I know plenty of doctors," Laura stated. "My mum's a doctor."

"Yes, your mum," Tom stated excitedly. "Dr. Martha Jones. Would she know where he is?" Laura became alarmed.

"How do you know my mum," she asked firmly.

"Of course I know your mum, and your dad, Mickey and you're brothers Richard and Henry." Tom stated.

"Who are you," Laura shouted and pointed a finger in Tom 's face. Tom backed up nervously.

"I already told you,"

"How do you know my family," she screamed. Laura was becoming furious. Who was this man? Where did he come from? Why the hell was he at her doorstep in the middle of the night? Laura wanted all of these answers and more but before she could start her integration, she heard the fast tires of a car coming from up the road. She looked down and saw headlights. When she looked back at Tom , he was gone. Laura looked down the opposite end of the pavement, but saw nothing, only parked cars and houses. The car that was coming from the other direction stopped in front of her. Michael got out.

"I see I beat the police," he mused then noticed his daughter wasn't paying attention to him, but looking down the road. "What's wrong," he asked. Laura looked at her father with confusion.

"There was a man," she stated, and pointed down the street.

"What man," Michael said concerned.

"I, I don't know he just," Laura was so flustered she couldn't speak. "He was here and he knew you, and then he just, he just."

"He knew me," Michael asked worried. "What do you mean?"

"He knew all of us, mum, Richard, Henry," Laura said becoming increasingly upset. "He knew me and he kept asking about some doctor."

"What," Michael said surprised. He grabbed Laura by the shoulders. "Laura, tell me everything that happened. When did you see him?"

"He was just here," Laura shouted. Her father was looking at her with the most intense look.

"Okay, but what did he say, what did he tell you Laura," Michael demanded. It was the last straw for Laura.

"He said his name was Tom , that's all he said," she sobbed. "He said his name, and asked me if I knew the Doctor." Realizing how upset she was, Michael pulled Laura into him and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry loved," he said sweetly. "Everything is okay now, so stop your crying."

"He didn't know how to give a handshake," Laura said, but her voice was muffled in her father's shoulder so she doubt he heard her.

Once the police arrived Laura gave her statement. She didn't tell them about Tom, on the advisement of her father. Afterwards, Michael took her back to the family home and put her to bed in her old room. Martha who had been awake since Michael left, tuck her tired daughter in and sang her to sleep the way she did when her children were kids. When Laura finally drifted off, Martha quietly left the room. Michael was standing right outside.

"We need to talk," he said to his wife. Martha grimaced. "It's about the Doctor."


	2. The disappearance of Tom

Laura woke up the next morning feeling better, but still uneasy about the previous night's events. Her head was dizzy with thought of her flat being broken into, Tom, and how her father reacted and it was all doing her head in. She rolled out of her childhood bed and went to her bathroom. Turning on the light Laura got an unpleasing sight of herself. The skin under her dark brown eyes was puffy, her long, straighten brown hair was wildly unkempt and she had drool lines down her mouth. She didn't change from her party dress from the night before. She looked hungover and the way her head was pounding she felt hungover too.

After freshening up, Laura went down stairs to the kitchen where her mother was cooking breakfast and her father was hovering over his laptop set up on the kitchen counter. It was a scene that reminded Laura of when she was a child and brought her comfort.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Martha said while making her "you poor dear" face as Laura had come to call it. Martha went over to hug her daughter. Laura rolled her eyes but took the hug, she knew she needed it. "I'm making eggs, and ham and muffins." Martha exclaimed. The older woman was beaming, and though still a beautiful woman her face displayed years of laughter, kisses and worrying.

"Yummy," Laura replied. Martha smirked, tapped Laura's nose and went back to cooking, Michael had yet to notice Laura's presence. Whatever he was looking at was completely engrossing him. Laura made her way over to him. She nudged herself under his arm, like she did when she was little and looked at the computer screen. It seemed to be CCTV footage.

"What's this," she said curiously. Michael moved out of the way and set down on a stool next to Laura.

"It's footage from the burglary," Michael replied. "The CCTV cameras across the street caught the bastards that broke into your flat."

"How did you get this," Laura asked excitedly.

"I work for the government, darling," Michael mused. Laura scoffed and continued to watch the footage. Sure enough she could see two sketchy looking men break into her duplex earlier in the night. She hit the fast-forward button, and according to the time stamp the men exited her flat about 10 minutes later. They were carrying suitcases.

"Mom they took the suitcases granddad bought me last Christmas," Laura whined.

"Animals," Martha coldly replied. Laura sighed and kept watching as the two men walked quickly out of frame. Then she remembered Tom.

"Dad how much footage do you have," she asked, while fast-forwarding the footage.

"The whole night, why," Michael asked. Laura's eyes scanned carefully over the fast moving images.

"I was just thinking maybe that man is on here," she said. "Maybe you can figure out who he is and how he knows us."

"Laura," Michael began but he was cut off.

"I thought you said you had the whole night," Laura said abruptly. "Some of the footage is missing." Laura reversed the footage and watched again. There she was sitting on the steps of her flat. She looked to be sleeping and then she stood up walked to the end of the pavement while looking down the road. Then her father walked up. Laura's encounter with Tom was completely gone.

"Where's the rest of it," she demanded. "Where's the guy." Michael frowned thoughtfully.

"Laura, there wasn't a guy," he said carefully.

"What are you talking about," Laura replied. "Of course there was. I spoke to him." She looked to her mother for support, but all she was getting was "you poor dear" face. "He was there," she shouted.

"Laura there was no one else there, look at the footage," Martha stressed.

"Someone cut him out," Laura protested. "They had to."

"The footage came straight from the server this morning," Michael said. "It hasn't been tampered with."

"But it had to have been," Laura cried. "I saw him, I spoke to him. He didn't know how to give a handshake for crying out loud."

"What," Martha asked confused.

"He shook my thumb with both hands," Laura said sternly. Her parents stared at her strangely. Martha walked over to her father grabbed his thumb and mimicked what Tom had done to hers. "Thumb, both hands" she repeated. Her father rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Sweetheart, you fell asleep and had a dream, that's all," he insisted.

"I didn't fall asleep," Laura whined but then remembered the footage. "Okay I did fall asleep, but I woke up when I heard the siren."

"What siren," Martha asked.

"I'm not sure, it was strange, like a pulsating whooshing sound," Laura didn't have the words to describe it so she made the sound with her mouth the best she could. Her parents continued to look at her in confusion. "Whatever, then the man, Tom, came running around the corner."

"Darling there was no one in the footage," Michael said sternly. However Laura ignored him.

"He was tall, with blond messy hair, and brown eyes," she insisted. "He knew you, he knew all of us."

"We know many Toms," Martha said sweetly. "But none that fit that description."

"Maybe he was a spy," Laura interjected. "Maybe he is after you and managed to get to the footage first. So he could whip himself off of it"

"The CCTV servers are monitored 24 hours a day," Michael explained. "No one without the proper security clearance has access to them."

"Maybe it was an inside job," Laura argued. Her parents didn't seem convinced. "Maybe it was one of you." Laura said the words before she could stop herself. Michael rose up from the stool. He was angry.

"Why would your mother or I lie to you about CCTV footage," he asked firmly. Laura felt like a child, afraid to admit she broke the lamp in the family room. But she was tired of being treated like a fool and she wanted answers.

"Maybe because I have no idea what it is you do," Laura stated angrily. "Maybe because I'm completely kept out of anything that goes on in this family."

"Laura we work for the government," Martha insisted.

"Doing what,"

"You know we can't tell you specifics," Michael stressed. "It's not that we try to keep you out, it's a matter of national security. Frankly I don't feel that I should have to explain myself to you." With that Michael stormed out of the room. Laura was seething. Martha came over and placed her hands on Laura's shoulders.

"Listen," she began with a soothing voice. "Why don't you go upstairs draw yourself a bath and I'll bring you breakfast." Martha's patronizing tone aggravated Laura to know end.

"I don't want a bath or breakfast," she shouted pulling herself away from her mother and walking towards the stairs. "I want someone in this family for once to believe in me." She began sobbing as she raced up the stairs.


End file.
